TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- The cost for building materials is drastically higher.

One construction company owner said the reason why is simply supply and demand.

“They’re up quite a bit since the first of the year,” owner of Legacy Construction Company Mark Simpson said.

Simpson explained that when the coronavirus hit in March and April, mills and other supply manufacturers had shut down, and production was scarce. Then, Summer came.

“As it got on into the summertime, the demand got really, really high, and the supply wasn’t there,” Simpson said.

Simpson added right now, his clients are weighing their options.

“I got several houses to start now, and homeowners are kind of looking at the pros and cons of low-interest rates compared to paying more for lumber,” Simpson said.

Karen Floyd is one of Simpson’s customers. She said right now, he is building a new house for her.

“We’ve started, but we’re just to the framing point, but we’ve got a little bit of a stall now,” Floyd said

According to Floyd, the stall is because of lumber costs.

“We’re gonna go ahead,” Floyd said, “it’s just going to increase the cost for my house considerably. I’ve already been told $16,000-$20,000 more because of the cost of the lumber material.”

“I bought some OSB back in May,” Simpson said, “and I think I paid $7.65 a sheet for some OSB, and now it’s about 22, $23, per sheet.”

Simpson said the prices should come down soon.

“Maybe first of the year, we might see a better decrease in materials hopefully,” he said.

Simpson added people had hoped Labor Day would be the point when costs would start to go back down. Now, he says hopefully prices will reach a crest and dip lower in the next few weeks.